chicot

Obviously, conditions vary from country to country in Europe. The Nordic nations, for example, have very long holidays and usually come out near the top in any "quality of life" surveys, and yet their economies are actually doing pretty well. All I am saying is that the idea that having a healthy work/life balance has to be bad for productivity is very far from the whole truth.

Learn what? The work till you drop mentality of the US? Good, I hope it never does. I prefer to work to live rather than live to work.

The Saudis?! The Saudis don't generally kick anyone's ass (except maybe unarmed Bahraini protesters). They generally get someone else to do the ass-kicking for them.

With multiple root canals the process is extremely painful but when it's all done you do feel better in the long run. Not sure you can say the same about watching the Bills...

It should but the Bills will just draft another running back.

What did you make of last night's fight? Personally, I thought the decision was a total disgrace. I made it 8 rounds to 4 in Marquez's favour and couldn't see any way Pacquiao won it. Marquez landed the cleaner, more effective shots all night long and most of Pacquaio's shots caught nothing but air. Even Amir Khan, Pacquiao's stablemate, thought Manny had lost and was making excuses for him before the verdict came in.

And how do you know the "real Muslim community" is not already doing what you suggest? For instance, did you see any mention of this on your side of the Atlantic? Muslim peace conference

Which is my country? Greece? France? Which country do you think I'm from today? Care to be a bit more specific about these far-left rascals that got us into this fine mess? Maybe a name or a political party or anything at all? Or are you somehow implying that these fiendishly clever far-left individuals somehow put the idea into the heads of all the mainstream politicians that have been running Europe for the past few decades?

Who are these far-left politicians in France and Germany that you're babbling on about? If you think Sarkozy and Merkel are "far-left" then I want some of what you're smoking.

It was legal but unsportsmanlike. Having said that, Ortiz lost the right to complain with his ridiculously blatant headbutt (a "Saturday night special" as one analyst put it ) and got exactly what he deserved. I doubt there will be a rematch or even should be, as Mayweather was dominating the fight and there's no reason to believe a rematch would be any different.

Good grief! I really have to wade through all that... 1) I am not French. I am English on my mother's side and Iraqi on my Father's. 2) There are so many holes in your grand theory I really don't know where to begin. The massed armour and infantry with nothing between them and Iran but open terrain is no longer there in the sort of numbers you'd need to invade Iran. The current number of US military in Iraq is about 45,000 and full withdrawal is supposed to occur at the end of the year. I'm no military genius but I think you may need a few more men to contemplate a full-scale invasion of Iran. Or is it your expectation that the Maliki government is just going to allow a re-occupation of Iraq in preparation for a full-scale assault on Iran? BTW you're out of luck. I read your last post first

What's the weather like on your planet? So the Iraq war was all about opposing Iran. Of course! It makes perfect sense to depose Saddam, who was an implacable enemy to Iran, and see him replaced with a Shiite-dominated government with very close ties to Iran, many of whom actually spent years in exile in Iran Still, don't let me disturb your fantasies of omniscience (I doubt that I could in any case).

At the time Spiller was drafted the Bills still had Lynch, who was very much the right side of 30. Given that fact, the Spiller pick was very much a luxury pick.

5 now. A 68-year old has died from injuries he received after being attacked when he tried to put out a fire the rioters started. Scum...

If they had easy access to firearms and they knew that shopkeepers were likely to be armed you don't think they would be?

If you had a gun and the mob were armed with baseball bats then yes that would help. However, if the mob were also armed with guns I'm not sure your situation would be any better.

Good grief. Law-abiding Britons never really had guns in the first place. I don't know where some of you get this idea that every man and his dog was packing a pistol in the past. Beyond a few gun enthusiasts gun ownership has never really caught on over here. Also, did it never occur to you that if guns were more readily available then the rioters would have them as well?

BBC - rioting "London remains largely quiet with a heavy police presence on the streets." That's not to say it's all sweetness and light on the streets but there are worse places at the moment.

Actually London is pretty quiet at the moment. Most of the trouble so far seems to be in Manchester and West Bromwich.

There are plenty of reasons to criticize Chavez. He says and does plenty of stupid things and he obviously has an ego the size of a planet. However, what I take issue with is the idea that he is a dictator with little or no support in the population, and that every election he has won was fixed. That is very far from the truth.

Chavez is far more democratic than any number of right-wing despots that the US has been more than happy to prop up in that region of the world.

Forgive me. I must have missed your detailed and exhaustive study of the Israel/Palestine conflict. I could have sworn the only argument you've presented over whether Israel should give up land or not is the size of the country. As for the "personal BS", take a look at some of your posts in this thread. You don't think you were being somewhat patronizing and insulting? Seems to me you can dish it out but not take it. Besides I'm not sure why a gentle jibe about your screen name upsets you so much. Obviously I have no way of knowing whether or not you look like a fish. If you do indeed look like a fish then I apologize for offending you.

The Golan Heights is an issue for Israel and Syria to sort out. It's not really an Israel/Palestine issue. Incidentally, there is some evidence that the conventional wisdom regarding the capture of the Golan Heights is not the whole story. Moshe Dayan on the Golan Heights

France? What has France got to do with anything?

How right you are. I see it all so clearly now. All the time we've spent here on PPP discussing the intricacies of the Israel/Palestine conflict and all we had to do was look at the map since the size of Israel is the only thing that matters. Dammit man, if you'd only found your way to PPP earlier you could have saved us all the effort. Here's the deal FishFace. I regret to inform you that your home is built on land that was promised to the Chicotians forever by our imaginary friend. You will be required to leave so that the ancient kingdom of Chicotdom can be restored. Now please don't make a fuss old chap. All you have to do is look at the map. Chicotdom is going to be tiny - there'll be plenty of room for you in the rest of the US.